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Only 16% of Americans Understand “The Cloud”

That’s right. A stunningly low proportion of only 16% Americans know what “the cloud” is, according to a national survey conducted by Wakefield Research, commissioned by Citrix. Other stunning statistics to come out of the survey are as follows:

29% of correspondents responded with a reference to an actual cloud, the sky or something related to weather when asked what “the cloud” is.

There are 95% who think they’renot using the cloud when they actually are.

40% think that working “in their birthday suit” at home would be one of the cloud’s greatest advantages (though I’d have to give them that that is a fair benefit…)

56% of respondents believe that others pretend to know what the cloud is, when they don’t.

51% believe that stormy weather would interfere with cloud computing.

There are 32% who believe the cloud is something that is only of the future and 15% believe that the cloud is for those who work in technology.

You should check out the Citrix article and results for more information about the study, and decide whether there was something wrong with the questionnaire, or if our society is just that disconnected from what they’re doing. I’m reckoning the latter…

You are using the cloud if you use any online email service such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail. My mom uses the cloud, but she doesn't know it. She was amazed when we got a new computer and she could see her emails "from the old computer" when they weren't stored on the old computer at all.

That is the problem with a lot of geek website and magazines (I'm looking at you Wired). Because it's so ingrained in "our" culture, we think it is that way for everyone. Same with people who are art-snobs, or wine snobs, or motorcycle riders, or skateboarders. It defines their lives and are surprised when other people are ignorant to what "post-modern obscurism" is, what a Pinot Noir's full flavor is, why a pan-head is better than a knucklehead or why a ???? is so hard to accomplish (I know nothing of skateboarding….).

If you said a few years ago that you wanted to move all of your company's critical data to a third party on the internet, people would look at you and say you were an idiot. Now if you say you want to move it to the "cloud" they think it is a brilliant idea.